Jonathan Zimmerman: Our struggling international students

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Several years ago, I taught a summer course in Ghana for students at New York University. On the last day, I asked the group to identify the best part of the class.
'My English improved so much,' the lone Chinese student said.
Back in New York, she explained, she hung out almost exclusively with other students from China. That wasn't an option in the summer class.
I've been thinking about her during the recent barrage of attacks on international students by the Trump administration, which has framed them as a threat to American security. That's false, and it's also cruel. The real threat is to the students themselves, who are scared that they will not be able to stay here. Many of them canceled plans to go home this summer, fearing that they won't be allowed back.
But there's also something disingenuous about the response from our universities, which have emphasized how international students enrich our intellectual and cultural lives. In too many cases, these students simply enrich our bottom line. We gladly take their tuition dollars, without integrating them into our communities.
Last week, the White House paused visa interviews for foreign students around the world as it prepared to expand social media vetting of them. And it promised to 'aggressively' revoke visas for Chinese students, including those 'with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,' as Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced.
Nobody knows what that means, which is precisely what makes it so terrifying. The Trump administration has already said it would halt international student enrollments at Harvard. It's understandable why so many of our 1.1 million non-American students — a quarter of whom come from China — are wondering if they will be next.
I have only the deepest sympathy for these students, who have sacrificed years of their lives — and huge sums of money — in pursuit of an American degree. They should not be forced to suffer so that President Donald Trump and his allies can score cheap political points.
But if we're honest, we'll admit that many of them were suffering already. In a 2013 survey of Chinese students at Yale, 45% of reported symptoms of depression and 29% said they had symptoms of anxiety. Among the overall campus population, just 13% reported depression and anxiety.
Chinese students worry about their English accents and comprehension skills, which make it hard for them to participate in classes. I have found they also struggle with courses that require them to express their own ideas.
But their biggest challenge is making friends with Americans. They often can't understand our jokes or pop culture references. So they mostly spend their time with other Chinese students, which sociologist Yingyi Ma calls 'protective segregation.'
I'd probably do the same thing, if I were in their shoes. But I also think we are ripping them off. We lure them here with the promise of opening their minds to different people and perspectives. And they end up living in communities that aren't so different from the ones they left behind.
Here you might reply that nobody is forcing them to come to the United States. They get a degree, and we get their money. It's a good deal for everyone, right?
Wrong. I don't wake up in the morning and walk to work eager to fill the coffers of my university. My goal is to help people learn.
And I do not believe I am succeeding with my international students, especially those from China. Our universities have not developed effective systems to assist them.
That would require us to invest heavily in tutoring and counseling services, tailored to the needs of international students. We also need to think creatively about how we can incorporate them into the larger culture of our institutions. In 2015, for example, the University of Illinois began Chinese-language broadcasts of its football games; since then, several other schools have done the same.
None of this will be easy. And the Trump administration has made it much harder, of course, by placing non-American students in its crosshairs. On top of everything else, they must now worry about whether they will get kicked out of America.
But let's not pretend that everything was fine for international students before Trump came along. Let's instead resolve to make it better, and to make good on our promises to them. Anything less will betray the best ideals of our universities. And of our country.
Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the advisory board of the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest.